Minuteman III Missile / Glory Trip 193GM Launch

2007 May 17

The following image by the webmaster shows the 2007 February 7 early morning
launch of an unarmed Minuteman III ICBM from California's Vandenberg Air Force
Base. The test flight, code-named "Glory Trip 193GM" began at 00:15 PST and sent
an unarmed reentry vehicle on a ballistic trajectory to a predetermined target
in the Marshall Islands.

In spite of the presence of heavy high-altitude clouds and moonlight, much of
the powered portion of the flight is visible. The faint curved horizontal line
in the middle left is the trace from the third stage burn. The short streaks
are star trails. The thin line near the horizon on the lower left is the trail
from an aircraft.

The 3-minute 35-second time exposure was taken from the mountains east of San
Marcos Pass in Santa Barbara County and some 50-statue miles from the launch
site. The equipment consisted of a vintage Canon TLb camera body, 35mm lens, and
Fuji Superia 400 color print film. West Coast Imaging of Oakhurst, California
scanned the negative.

The most interesting features in the photo are labeled in this version of
the image.